Tear Down This Wall

So my one real accomplishment this weekend was to clear out the extra material around the corner of the kitchen where I'm going to extend the 3/4 wall.



During the process, I determined I didn't really know what the dimensions of the new wall should be. Previously the idea had been "cover the fridge without closing off the room". After much debate with Catherine, I think that perhaps this rendering below is the best option. (Shown with the rendering of current state for comparison.)



Yes, that is a framed picture of a mule. No, it's not my first choice for wall art.

Furious Day Off

I know I said I wasn't going to do it, but I've gone and had my car's air conditioning fixed. I almost made it to June, but those drives back and forth to Killeen with no A/C were killing me. I guess I'll have to come up with some other reason to buy a new car now.

Also Prince of Persia was so-so. Then again, my expectations weren't that high to begin with.

The more interesting thing was the live action graphic novel they performed before the movie, "The Intergalactic Nemesis". It was like a combination of reading a comic book and listening to one of those old-time radio dramas. It was complete with 3 voice actors, foley effects artist, and keyboardist to provide the score... all live. Apparently they'll be putting on a longer show in September. I'm going to have to see if Catherine wants to go to that.

40 Hours -- One Day Early

So with the combination of working Sunday afternoon, and a couple drives to Killeen, I seem to have met my 40 hour work week 1 day early. Now I'm faced with a 4 day weekend, with absolutely no plans for what to do. I guess I'm lucky that there's plenty to do around the house.

Did I mention that I received a Certificate of Appreciation from the US Government? I don't think I really deserve it, but whatever... I'll take it. Nice to know those long days a month or so ago didn't go unnoticed.

Strawberry Shortcake

So I figured out how to make the strawberry shortcake Catherine normally makes. I think I was driven to do it because the strawberries were about to go bad, and I figured marinating them in the malt balsamic vinegar would hide any problems in their texture.

However, in the process I discovered I was fascinated by the process of turning whipping cream into whipped cream. I think it was the suddenness of the change that caught me by surprise. One second I'm furiously whipping, imagining I see some slight thickening of the liquid. The next second, it's sticking to the top of the bowl and the whisk, no longer really a liquid at all.

... and it was delicious to boot. The presentation left a little to be desired, since it looked like a pile of whipped cream and strawberries. (I considered taking a picture for posterity, but decided it might be better to destroy the evidence.)

In other news, I think I may have sunburned the right half of my face driving back from Killeen. (The A/C is broken, so the sunroof was open.)

Interesting. Between that and the whipped cream fascination, maybe I'm turning into Richard Dreyfuss's character from Close Encounters of the Third Kind.

--
2010.05.28 -- Yeah. Balsamic vinegar.... not malt.

The Name of a Rose ... or Blog

No, it doesn't really mean anything.

I did register the domain name. ...a year ago. I thought it would be a cool name for my software consulting company should I ever decided to do some serious private consulting. For now, maybe I'll see if I can get it redirected here.